The Dark Side Of Elon Musk Sending A Car Into Space

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for capitalism, monopolies, and class struggle

On February 6, 2018, SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy Rocket, with a red Tesla Roadster attached to it, into space. The space exploration company and its CEO, Elon Musk, put a $200 thousand vehicle into space to prove they could do so. They even live streamed the launch so the whole world could see their greatness. Musk’s company is among a group of private companies interested in space transports and space tourism. Musk has expressed his interest in colonizing Mars. But what is there to guarantee us that space property won’t be distributed by a ¨first come, first served" basis?

Apparently, there is something called “The Outer Space Treaty of 1967,” which states that planets, asteroids, and any other surface in the universe “belongs to all mankind.” The United Nations for Outer Space Affairs takes care of these dilemmas and all major governments have signed the five treaties concerning space law. However, there are loopholes in these treaties that could potentially allow billionaires to establish and profit from these cities in space. Private companies can settle on other planets because the treaty allows room for exploration. And even though they don’t own land on outer space, they can own whatever houses, ships, concrete, and pieces of metal they take with them.

In a way, these loopholes are kind of a gold mine for tycoons because no investment on property would be made and the government wouldn't be able to charge them for rent. Why am I freaking out about this? Let’s say that for some catastrophic reason we have to move to Mars. Regular people will need to acquire or purchase transport and eventual housing. This will turn the incoming space cities into capitalist monopolies that will enslave us to their system and restrict our independence from surviving on our own.

Musk's Tesla was a taste of what the future holds. Also, rumor has it that several people from several countries have paid to reserve their seat on the space projects from these tech billionaires. I believe it is important to invest on space projects. However, the energy and money that is being put into this fad of moving to space could be be redirected towards a real issue like global warming.